Background: Inappropriate laboratory utilization in hospitalized patients is a significant contributing factor to health care expenditures, iatrogenic anemia, downstream testing, and poor patient satisfaction. For these reasons, the Society of Hospital Medicine has recommended through the Choosing Wisely Campaign to avoid repetitive complete blood counts (CBC) and chemistry testing in the face of clinical stability. [...]

Background: Up to 50% of the American healthcare spending is estimated to be wasteful. The largest type of wasteful spending is on overuse of tests and treatments. Among the diagnostic tests that are overused, excessive phlebotomy stands out due to its multifaceted implications, including hospital-acquired anemia, patient discomfort, provider burden, and avoidable downstream testing. The [...]